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Police Chief Bill Blair wants to bring back photo radar

Photo radar got a bad name in the ’90s as a “cash cow,” but Police Chief Bill Blair wants to bring it back.

Speaking at a Canadian Club luncheon Monday at the Fairmont Royal York hotel, Blair said he wants to use photo radar to catch speeders as well as install more cameras at intersections to deter drivers who “block the box” or make illegal left turns.

“If people ignore those signs and make the turns, everybody behind them is going to have to wait,” Blair told the audience. “The best way to enforce that, and the best way to ensure compliance with that law, is the use of technology. Not the use of a very expensive resource — police officers.”

It’s not the first time the chief has brought up the issue.

Blair suggested in January that the force use the technology to alleviate his budget pressures. But then transportation minister Bob Chiarelli said photo radar “is seen as a revenue source by a lot of people. The police chief who raised it in the context of a revenue source, that’s the wrong context.”

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On Monday, Blair reframed the conversation, suggesting that using police to enforce traffic violations was expensive and inefficient. And pulling over drivers on busy streets just creates more congestion.

Any revenue generated by the technology could be reinvested in transit, said Blair. “Frankly, I’m less interested in giving out a lot of tickets and far more interested in people complying with the law.”

Blair said traffic congestion was one of the “most significant issues facing the city,” citing a Toronto Board of Trade report that said gridlock costs the city almost $6 billion a year.

“It’s costing us more than dollars,” Blair told the audience, which included mayoral candidate Karen Stintz. “It’s costing us in the quality of our lives, affecting where people can live and work.”

After the speech he told reporters: “Ultimately, a political decision has to be made and I always like to leave the politics to the politicians.” His only goal: Get the conversation rolling.

Public works chair Denzil Minnan-Wong weighed in soon after he saw a news report on the chief’s comments.

“Nothing’s more frustrating than being in an intersection and the light turns green and there’s a car right in the intersection blocking your path. We need to be better at enforcing the laws of those intersections and making sure the intersections stay clear,” he said.

“The police don’t have the resources to do this, so if we need to, I think we should supplement that with technology that can read those licence plates and send a strong message to those insensitive and selfish drivers that congestion and gridlock are a problem, and they’re not helping matters.”

He said a city study of downtown traffic issues, to be released soon, will also discuss what can be done about gridlock in intersections.

Photo radar was brought in by the Bob Rae government in 1994 but was killed by Mike Harris — who called it a “cash cow” — in 1995 when he became premier. The province would have to create legislation to allow the technology to be used again.

“Ontario doesn’t have any plans to bring that back,” a Transportation ministry spokesperson said Monday.

The spokesperson said the ministry hasn’t considered cameras at intersections, similar to red-light cameras, to catch other traffic offences, but that it was open to hearing from Blair or Toronto City Council if there were safety concerns.

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